The present invention relates to a maximum intensity projection (MIP) performing method and apparatus and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for performing a maximum intensity projection on three-dimensional image data.
In the case of imaging an extending state of blood vessels in a body, a maximum intensity projection on three-dimensional image data captured by angiography or the like is performed. The maximum intensity projection is performed by extracting the maximum image data encountered by a projection line passing a data space on a projection line unit basis. The maximum intensity projection is also called MIP. The image obtained by the maximum intensity projection is also called an MIP image (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11(1999)-056840).
An MIP image does not have depth information. Therefore, the relations of blood vessels in depth are not clearly seen and it is difficult to grasp the blood vessel extending state in depth. A narrow blood vessel overlapping a thick blood vessel cannot be visualized in any of the forward and back directions of projection (forward and back projections).
To address such a problem, a plurality of MIP images are captured while shifting the projection direction little by little and are displayed like a moving picture. However, it is inconvenient to capture a number of MIP images in different projection directions.